Flax felt.



; citizen of the United States, residing at Le l No. ooaesi.

- To all whom it may concern:

STATES "Q mE-i" JAMES E. LAPREN, OF-LE RoY, MIl iNESOTA,ASSIGNORiOFyONEeTHIRD T0 F'REDERIoK M.

OATLIN AND ONE-THIRD ro LORENZO 1.. c. B oo s,.Bo rn ors'r. PAUL, MINNESOTA.-

' Fimx I I I a Be it known that I, JAMES E. LAPPEL{,;&

oy, in the county of Mower and State of Minnesota, have inventedcert'ain newand useful Improvements in Flax Felt; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enable ot ers skilled-in the art tovwhich it appertains to make and use the same. *1 My dpresent invention has for its object to' e, as a new article of manufacture or product/a matted and more or less flexible ax board or felt. flexible flax board is made from long flax fibers that are Jintertangled and matted together .so that they constitutea' porous orunore. or

less flexible, coherent and. self sustaining bod -havin considerable tensile strength.

T e flax her from which the body of material is made should be artly de ummed so 1 as to separate the shive rom the her. This degumming of the fiber may be done inany one of. the many well know'n'ways. Usually it will be accom li'shed chemically by treatment. in an alkai rocess. 1 K

To render the elt or flexible'fiax board more free'd rom shive or woody particles, about I fifty er .cent.,.more or less, of the shi-ve or W00 y substance artly separatedfrom the fiber is comming ed. with the intertangled flax fiber. This also, of course, very greatly reduces the cost of the manufactured ma'-. terial. I K

The long flax fibers are assembled to gether' to form the improved'product prefer ably by the process disclosed and claimed in my co-pendmg application -S.; N. 330,274,

filed August .12, 1906, entitled Proce ssof producing flax felt. The process dis-f closed and claimed in said a plication is substantially as follows: The ong flax fibers, and preferably a considerable portion of the shive, are submerged in water and are thoroughly agitated to produce a commingllng' and intertan ling of the long fibrous material I second, the brous stock is collected upon a screen or reticulate body which is moved approximately to the surface of the water,

' and thefiber is evenly spread and distributed over thereticulate plate, while still sub- This so called flax felt or orous'than it would he'. if entirely- .416,165, file merged ;'andthird, the collected and distributed fiber, together with the. reticulate pate, are removed from the water and the ormed 'flaxfelt is dried.

This improved flax felt or board may be madein any desired thickness and I myself have madethe same as much as two inches thick in a single layer or interwoven-approximately homogeneous body; The necessity for making the felt or board of several plies or layers is, therefore, eliminated. The multiplicit'y of air cells contained within the body of felt orboard, as well as the character of the flax itself, produce a felt or board that is an excellent insulation against the passage of heat, and at the same time the material is comparatively light and has sufficient flexibility to ermit it to be formed into various desired s apes. The long inter V tangled and mattedflax fibers give very considerable tensile strength to the material, and render the same selfsustaining' in its Iatented Jan. 5, 1909.

structure. Material. of this kindis very desirable for use in lining refri erator's and refrigerator cars and itis an i ealmaterial for,

use in buildings wherever it is desired to insulate or to prevent'the passage of heat. It also makes an excellenfleovering' for steam pipes. A v I A machine especially designed for makin this improved product is disclosed an claimed in m co-pending application'S. N.

Flax felt machine.-

What 'I claim is:

'1. As a new,article'of manufacture, a flax fdlt, composed of long flax fibers intertangled and matted together and .constitutinga porgus flexible coherentand self. sustaining 2. As a new article of manufacture, a flax felt, composed of long, partly degummed flax fibers, and shive or woody particles, intertangled and matted together-and constituting a porous flexible coherent and sustalnin body. l

In testimony whereof I affix in presence of two witnesses.

. I Withesses:

H. D. KILGORE, F. MERCHANT.

self

/ JAMESEJLAPPEN. 1

my signature 

